2 Answers from Attorneys

The landlord must first serve you with a three-day notice to pay or quit. If, within those three days, you do not pay what you owe, the landlord could then file an unlawful detainer lawsuit. If you don't answer the lawsuit within five days of it being served, then the landlord would first have to obtain a default judgment against you -- which might take a couple of weeks. The landlord then could have the sheriff evict you, probably within a couple of weeks after that. If you answer the unlawful detainer lawsuit, it's likely that your eviction could be delayed for several weeks.